Notices

Coronavirus outbreak and SDBWS activities

With regard to the coronavirus outbreak, and advice given out from the UK government relating to this, future SDBWS meetings and outings have been suspended. For those not on email who wish to seek advice on whether club activities are going ahead, please contact Thelma Caine (7527 448308)

Suffolk is the venue for this year’s Residential Weekend. The weekend will run from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th October with accommodation at the Ufford Park Hotel, situated in 120 acres of parkland at Woodbridge, around 8 miles from the RSPB reserves at Boyton and Hollesbury Marshes and 11 miles from Orford Ness. The hotel has 90 en-suite rooms with free Wi-Fi, a large car park and has its own golf course and spa. See the website at: https://www.uffordpark.co.uk/
For single occupancy of a room, the price for bed, breakfast, evening meal and packed lunches will be £229.90 per person. For a shared room, the overall price will be £179.90 per person.
During the weekend we will visit several of the nature reserves along the Suffolk coast. Within easy reach are the RSPB reserves at Boyton & Hollesbury Marshes, North Warren, Snape Warren, Minsmere and Dingle Marshes and the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve to name a few!
Early booking is recommended. For booking forms contact Thelma Caine Thelmacaine512@btinternet.com. A deposit of £30 per person is required with cheques payable to the SDBWS. The full balance of payment will be required by 11th September 2020.

Bring your own cups to meetings!

As part of our ‘Green’ strategy to reduce plastic waste, the club have bought a supply of compostable cups for the refreshment break. It would however be very much appreciated if you bring your own cups to each meeting from now to further reduce waste.

Facebook

Take a look at our Facebook page Surbiton Birds to see some of the wonderful pictures of birds taken by members on our regular outings. Join us at www.facebook.com/groups/surbbirds/ and share your pictures too. You’ll also find notice of our outings, meetings and other events as well. If you see any bird you can’t name then take a pic, post it and our experts are sure to identify it.

Island Barn Reservoir

Island Barn Reservoir in West Molesey is one of the best bird watching sites in the areas. We were, therefore, delighted to be able to come to an arrangement with the boat club to give those members who want it access to the reservoir. Access will be via a combination lock into the reservoir compound from Ray Road.
We will be paying a total of 150 pounds a year as associate members. This will be split equally amongst all those who want the access. As we are unsure as to the degree of interest it is not possible to be certain how much the annual subscription will be. However, given the level of interest already expressed we expect this to be somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds each.
If you are interested, and have not already done so, please contact Chris Turner on christurnerbirds@gmail.com or on 07909 992956. He will then be able to work out the per person subscription. It would also be very helpful if you could state the subscription ceiling you would be prepared to pay.

Newsletters by email

The Newsletter is now available by email a few days before the meeting. It is recommended that this option is taken as it provides colour and saves the Society money.

Recruiting new members

Word of mouth is one of the best ways of expanding membership of the club. Annemarie Stiegler has generated postcard size publicity cards if you can think of anywhere to put them, or people you would like to send or give them to. See Annemarie for supplies at the indoor meetings.

Do you live in the Elmbridge area?

There have been frequent attempts to build in the area, often to the detriment of local wildlife. Our conservation officer, Tony Quinn, is keeping an eye on things and making representations on the club’s behalf where we think there will be a significant environmental impact, but it isn’t always easy to be aware of all planning applications. So if you live in the area and see an application in your local newspaper or posted on a community boards or pole that you think warrants our attention, PLEASE let Tony know. He can be contacted on: ant.quinn@btueyonder.co.uk. Thank you.

Records sub-committee – a plea to all members

A recent study of SDBWS records has shown that several sites in the Society’s recording area, which over the years have produced worthwhile sightings, no longer appear to be visited regularly by Society members. Below is a list of species you might expect to see during a birding year at three adjoining sites close to Epsom.